Eight of Swords Tarot Card Meaning (Obstacles & Denial) (2024)

The Eight of Sword’s meaning relates to feeling blocked in your endeavors. You face limitations that make you want to give up.

Yet the Eight of Swords guides you to find motivation. You have a path to success if you are resourceful and clever. Look for opportunities in unusual places.

Take an unconventional path forward, and you will be surprised at what you can accomplish. Stretch beyond your comfort zone, but in the process, you develop new strengths.

Common Symbolism

The Eight of Swords symbolism typically includes an image of a woman with her hands tied or bound with rope. She is blindfolded and stands against a desolate landscape.

Behind her, a row of eight swords seems to keep her confined. She stands on the edge of a stream or river. The imagery suggests limitation and lack of autonomy.

The blindfold symbolizes the inability to perceive solutions. Yet the imagery of the blindfold can also represent the importance of using intuition rather than physical senses to solve a problem.

The landscape is bare; with no villages or people in sight, symbolizing alienation. The scene suggests the figure is on her own and must find liberation from bondage without the help of others.

In some variations of the tarot, the eight swords appear in a pattern against a minimalist background. Other decks depict a figure blindfolded and unable to see a ladder made of eight swords that could lead to freedom.

The enduring imagery associated with the Eight of Swords suggests limitation and difficulty perceiving support or resources. Escape is possible but requires strategy.

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Upright General Meaning

The Eight of Swords indicates a challenging situation. Your power and resources are limited or obstructed. You can succeed but you must be creative and try new tactics.

Your typical strengths and preferred strategies don’t work when the Eight of Swords appears. You may have to try and fail several times before you find the solution that frees you from limitations.

Don’t take limitations and failures personally, but also avoid making excuses. Freeing yourself from restrictions is an internal process first. Change your perspective and thinking so you’ll feel empowered to break free from obstacles.

The Eight of Swords yes or no is not clear but indicates an affirmative answer is possible, but your approach must change. Your goals are attainable if you modify your expectations.

Upright Love & Relationships

The Eight of Swords in love suggests you are at an impasse in your relationship. You can’t maintain the status quo. You may feel abandoned when this card appears in a reading.

Time alone helps you change your perspective. You can heal the connection with a loved one if you are willing to take a different tactic to express your needs. The Eight of Swords’ advice is to let others help you, you are doing too much on your own.

Be receptive to a partner or loved one. You may be too guarded, and although you want the support of a loved one, you aren’t open to collaboration. The Eight of Swords indicates you suffer because your relationships aren’t cooperative.

The Eight of Swords shows you need to change your perception of a relationship. You are hitting a dead end in your relationship and must find new ways to connect with your partner or love interest.

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Upright Money & Career

The Eight of Swords tarot card in money and career indicates stagnation and hardship. You aren’t gaining ground despite your efforts. Success requires a different approach to your career.

You may realize your job is leading you to a dead end. You are running out of options and must make significant changes to your career path. You come up short financially and realize your budget is not sustainable.

There is no way around a difficult situation. You can’t back out of an agreement but your hands are tied. The only way to get back on track in your work is to break a cycle of stagnation and limitations.

You may have to settle for an unpopular strategy. Don’t be afraid to disrupt the status quo as your plans are not working. Jumpstart your career and try new approaches to overcome obstacles.

Upright Health

The Eight of Swords in health indicates an illness or injury that restricts your freedom. You may feel stuck because of health symptoms that force you to change your routines.

Your outlook is instrumental in helping you overcome limitations. You may feel stuck because medical interventions aren’t helping to bring relief. Find new strategies to heal or accommodate health issues.

A physical illness or injury impairs your perspective and mental health. Your key to recovery is changing your mindset and beliefs about what is possible. Your health requires open-mindedness.

You may face temporary mobility restrictions. Avoid making short-term limitations into permanent restrictions because of short-sighted beliefs. Maintain healing and recovery as a goal.

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Upright Spirituality

The Eight of Swords appears when you feel lost and spiritually disconnected. You crave guidance and insight but may ignore the signs and omens around you. Tune out distractions, and you can find the wisdom you seek.

A crisis or period of stagnation makes you feel powerless. Turning to your spiritual beliefs to guide you through a tumultuous time brings freedom and awakening.

You find the answers you need through reflection and contemplation. Although you feel your hands are tied and you can’t control a situation, your spiritual beliefs remind you of your inner power.

The Five of Swords followed by the Eight of Swords indicates you have taken a conflict as far as you can go without being open to higher guidance. You are doing all you can to rationalize a situation that requires a spiritual perspective.

Reversed General Meaning

The Eight of Swords reversed appears when you are not aware of your limitations. You may be in denial or blame others for obstacles rather than taking responsibility for changing what you can. You may justify complacency.

The Eight of Swords reversed can indicate mental blocks that keep you from seeing your options. You are not using your best judgment or refusing to acknowledge limitations.

Dismantle illusions so you can take control of your options. Avoid making excuses and confront a challenging situation. You can overcome an obstacle but must be honest about it first.

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Reversed Love & Relationships

The Eight of Swords reversed in love appears when you are in denial about a relationship. A romantic partner does not reciprocate your feelings, and you are fighting an uphill battle to get your love interest’s attention.

The Eight of Swords reversed, followed by the Queen of Swords indicates the end of a relationship is inevitable though you may hold on out of fear of closure. Accept that a relationship has already functionally ended, and you are now just going through the motions.

You want support from others but alienate yourself. Lower your guard and be receptive to support from others. You can improve your love life if you change your attitude and perspective about attraction and relationships.

Reversed Money & Career

The Eight of Swords reversed in money, and career readings suggest you are in denial about your career path. Your prospects are limited, yet you have options you are unwilling to consider.

Humility and creativity are instrumental to breaking out of a rut. A new path forward in your career requires you to shift your thinking. Pride and willfulness stand in the way of professional growth.

Be receptive to ideas from others. You feel backed into a corner, but you have resources at your disposal. Your finances suffer because of hardship but you can overcome obstacles if you are willing to invest in a new option.

You are in denial about your financial prospects, but refusing to accept an obstacle won’t help you make progress. The Eight of Swords reversed guides you to be honest about limitations to improve your chances of success.

The Seven of Swords followed by the Eight of Swords indicates someone is stealing from you. You are ignoring red flags and enabling someone’s deception.

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Reversed Health

The reversed Eight of Swords tarot guides you to be realistic about a health challenge. You are closed off to feedback about your health, but this makes you feel stuck.

An illness or injury that requires you to change your lifestyle may be temporary, but you are refusing to acknowledge limitations. The Eight of Swords reversed message in health is to be open to new information so you can recover.

Change is in order, but you must evaluate the full scope of a problem before you recover from health issues. You are limiting your insight out of fear when the Eight of Swords appears reversed. Seek people who can help you face a difficult situation.

The Eight of Swords followed by the Nine of Swords indicates prolonged stress or grief results in increased anxiety. Mental health symptoms are intensified by unresolved tension.

Reversed Spirituality

You feel alienated when the Eight of Swords appears reversed. Focusing on mundane problems doesn’t help you now. Remain open to your higher wisdom to learn new ways to navigate a situation.

You downplay the importance of your spiritual path, but this is the time to draw on your higher purpose to find clarity and insights. You may feel anxious or overwhelmed because of a lack of spiritual perspective.

Your spiritual connection needs attention, and you can find strength and healing from a broader perspective. Reorient your focus and be open to intuitive guidance.